Post game: Tough loss

[SoldierGriz]

I think this was the first Griz game I watched start to finish this year and I have to say I came away impressed. They showed a lot of guts after losing Johnson.

The OL was much better than what I was anticipating. Osmo was impressive at RB...he ran extremely hard.

did Bergen injure his finger/hand on that punt return interference? I didn't seem him come back in after that play.

Offensive play calling I thought was really good considering the circumstances.

Obviously "the call" was terrible and the BSC should issue some type of statement on Monday about how big of a miss that was. That said....it was interesting the tv commentators didn't really take issue with the call and they agreed it was inconclusive. I thought it was obvious he was clearly out.

All in all, respect to your guys, they could have folded up the tents after QB1 went out, but they came out and fought their tails off.

3.7 yards per rush...is not gonna get it done. Compare that number to any other playoff team's numbers yesterday. Griz rely on explosive plays that are not happening. Limited in the run game and not a single receiver who can take the top off a defense. It might have worked with Akem and Toure...not going to happen with current crew.

Staff is stuck in the past for some reason.

 

[Ursus1]

Surely a tough loss and not for a lack of effort. The defense played extremely hard and contained a pretty explosive offense. I have one major issue with BH and this staff. Forget play calling, special teams, clock management or the refs. Almost every team and coach struggle with those issues at times. (Poor Jay Hill was ready to pull his hair out yesterday). The one justified criticism of this staff is QB recruiting. Same problem keeps surfacing. One QB and if they get hurt, everything goes to hell. KB didn’t play as awful as people make it seem. Still, he is immobile and cannot run the offense like Johnson. He is not much of a threat to scramble and create opportunities with his feet. Britt appears to have those qualities, yet he never sees time. Idaho State game the Griz won when Johnson wasn’t at his best. Idaho - should have had a second QB ready to go when Johnson was sick. Idaho has a freshman QB I believe. Idaho State had a very serviceable 3rd string QB. Bozeman has two solid QB’s who are both a threat. Sac State it’s the same story. Eastern Washington always has multiple QB’s. What is the problem with Montana? Recruiting, coaching or both? Something seriously wrong there and needs to be evaluated. Hauck has “his guys”. Better figure out the QB problem. Pretty much cost the team two games so far this season. Last season same story. The problem is glaring and obvious.

Dead on...excuse of QB getting hurt doesn't cut it when you look at all the other teams that have used more than one QB this year, or play a freshman like Idaho. Something is wrong when a team must rely on transfer after transfer to be their only capable QB. Looks like it will be the same scenario next year as the Brown experiment is not working and they don't have confidence in Britt. I doubt LJ plays next week with the current concussion protocols so you might see a third consecutive loss in conference play. Give Weber a look at the film from yesterday it will be a piece of cake to defend this offense.

 

[PDXGrizzly]

I’d be interested to see what AJ Abbott looks like. Agree on Britt. KB does his best and no one is faulting him for it, but his ceiling is simply too low for this team and what they hoped to accomplish.

 

[noncasualobserver]

Tough loss frienemies, but griz D is lights out awesome, "The Call" was ridiculous and griz toughed it out against a great team. In the more stalwart griz hearts, hope this goes up as a "W", you can say griz beat SAC at home, but didn't win against SAC at home. Sounds cheezy but true. If QB1 wasn't hurt Griz smoke SAC at home and swagger through the rest of the games. Griz could easily win out and go far in the playoffs, damn that's hard to type.

I'm not expecting Bobby to PM me on this board asking for my advice, crazy as that sounds. But:
-QB: Get or develop a good backup QB for Corn's sake! That's never obvious until it's obvious but it's obvious that this needs serious attention on every team, always, if you want more Ws. Backup had a few tough series, then did respectably throughout, O line and play calling adjusted to the reality of the situation.
-Special teams: B*^#h please!!
-D: don't change a thing. Griz D could wreck every O throughout the season.

PR-hoops is who he is, but I do look forward to his stats-relative-to-complaints as he gives context to the game beyond the score. The stats are real, the score is all that matters, but they illustrate how good the griz are - and therefor the potential. More realistic Cat fans aren't gloating in the least about Cat/griz until it's done. Stats from this game should be very interesting.

The 'fire Bobby' crowd? Who, realistically, could do as good as him for UM? The Big Sky has a bunch of very good teams and you're going to lose some.

Good luck other than Cat/griz for the rest of the season.

 

[mthoopsfan]

I think this was the first Griz game I watched start to finish this year and I have to say I came away impressed. They showed a lot of guts after losing Johnson.

The OL was much better than what I was anticipating. Osmo was impressive at RB...he ran extremely hard.

did Bergen injure his finger/hand on that punt return interference? I didn't seem him come back in after that play.

Offensive play calling I thought was really good considering the circumstances.

Obviously "the call" was terrible and the BSC should issue some type of statement on Monday about how big of a miss that was. That said....it was interesting the tv commentators didn't really take issue with the call and they agreed it was inconclusive. I thought it was obvious he was clearly out.

All in all, respect to your guys, they could have folded up the tents after QB1 went out, but they came out and fought their tails off.

wtbg, nice post. Very astute. I agree. I also appreciate it.

 

[mthoopsfan]

I think this was the first Griz game I watched start to finish this year and I have to say I came away impressed. They showed a lot of guts after losing Johnson.

The OL was much better than what I was anticipating. Osmo was impressive at RB...he ran extremely hard.

did Bergen injure his finger/hand on that punt return interference? I didn't seem him come back in after that play.

Offensive play calling I thought was really good considering the circumstances.

Obviously "the call" was terrible and the BSC should issue some type of statement on Monday about how big of a miss that was. That said....it was interesting the tv commentators didn't really take issue with the call and they agreed it was inconclusive. I thought it was obvious he was clearly out.

All in all, respect to your guys, they could have folded up the tents after QB1 went out, but they came out and fought their tails off.

3.7 yards per rush...is not gonna get it done. Compare that number to any other playoff team's numbers yesterday. Griz rely on explosive plays that are not happening. Limited in the run game and not a single receiver who can take the top off a defense. It might have worked with Akem and Toure...not going to happen with current crew.

Staff is stuck in the past for some reason.

Johnson averaged 12 yards per carry, in 3 runs. He was going to hurt SS badly. The UM average would have been 5 or 6 with Johnson. The o-line played fairly well. I too would like Akem or Toure. You have this irrational thing about the o-line, and have been giving the receivers a pass.

 

[mthoopsfan]

Tough loss frienemies, but griz D is lights out awesome, "The Call" was ridiculous and griz toughed it out against a great team. In the more stalwart griz hearts, hope this goes up as a "W", you can say griz beat SAC at home, but didn't win against SAC at home. Sounds cheezy but true. If QB1 wasn't hurt Griz smoke SAC at home and swagger through the rest of the games. Griz could easily win out and go far in the playoffs, damn that's hard to type.

I'm not expecting Bobby to PM me on this board asking for my advice, crazy as that sounds. But:
-QB: Get or develop a good backup QB for Corn's sake! That's never obvious until it's obvious but it's obvious that this needs serious attention on every team, always, if you want more Ws. Backup had a few tough series, then did respectably throughout, O line and play calling adjusted to the reality of the situation.
-Special teams: B*^#h please!!
-D: don't change a thing. Griz D could wreck every O throughout the season.

PR-hoops is who he is, but I do look forward to his stats-relative-to-complaints as he gives context to the game beyond the score. The stats are real, the score is all that matters, but they illustrate how good the griz are - and therefor the potential. More realistic Cat fans aren't gloating in the least about Cat/griz until it's done. Stats from this game should be very interesting.

The 'fire Bobby' crowd? Who, realistically, could do as good as him for UM? The Big Sky has a bunch of very good teams and you're going to lose some.

Good luck other than Cat/griz for the rest of the season.

I am glad you recognize that I am who I am. Ha. See my recent thread.

 

[brewskis]

I think this was the first Griz game I watched start to finish this year and I have to say I came away impressed. They showed a lot of guts after losing Johnson.

The OL was much better than what I was anticipating. Osmo was impressive at RB...he ran extremely hard.

did Bergen injure his finger/hand on that punt return interference? I didn't seem him come back in after that play.

Offensive play calling I thought was really good considering the circumstances.

Obviously "the call" was terrible and the BSC should issue some type of statement on Monday about how big of a miss that was. That said....it was interesting the tv commentators didn't really take issue with the call and they agreed it was inconclusive. I thought it was obvious he was clearly out.

All in all, respect to your guys, they could have folded up the tents after QB1 went out, but they came out and fought their tails off.

3.7 yards per rush...is not gonna get it done. Compare that number to any other playoff team's numbers yesterday. Griz rely on explosive plays that are not happening. Limited in the run game and not a single receiver who can take the top off a defense. It might have worked with Akem and Toure...not going to happen with current crew.

Staff is stuck in the past for some reason.

The rushing looks even worse when you consider Sac was down their 3 best DE’s

To date, Sac has allowed the following rushing yards per game

UNI 4.3
Cal Poly 3.2
UNC 3.0
EWU 3.6

Not a pretty picture for our offense.

 

[mthoopsfan]

3.7 yards per rush...is not gonna get it done. Compare that number to any other playoff team's numbers yesterday. Griz rely on explosive plays that are not happening. Limited in the run game and not a single receiver who can take the top off a defense. It might have worked with Akem and Toure...not going to happen with current crew.

Staff is stuck in the past for some reason.

The rushing looks even worse when you consider Sac was down their 3 best DE’s

To date, Sac has allowed the following rushing yards per game

UNI 4.3
Cal Poly 3.2
UNC 3.0
EWU 3.6

Not a pretty picture for our offense.

As I said elsewhere, if Johnson plays the whole game, UM averages 5 or 6 per carry.

 

[HookedonGriz]

Another thing, we missed 2 fgs. We need a kicker. Even if we nmake those 2 fgs we win, game never goes to OT. Our team was impressive even with 2 critical players out. Refs are 100% idiots. Their jobs should be in jeopardy. This year is by far the worst officiating and last night was the worst of the worst. Absolutely ridiculous. A 5 year old could make better calls. But, like I said, we need a kicker. Badly. Also we need to bring in 2 qb transfers next year for any sort of hope. KB can manage a game and limit turnovers but, he's not going to get us back in a game if we are down. I've been a long time supporter of his but, they should have brang Britt out and strictly ran read option plays. Our running game was on fire. If we had a more mobile qb in we wouldn't of needed to pass to win that game.

Except those were on missed blocks and guys getting into the backfield immediately more so than it was on the kicker. Two completely whiffed or missed blocks. Inexcusable

 

[hubcap]

I haven’t been too high on the oline but they looked good last night. Certainly had nothing to do with the loss.

 

[mthoopsfan]

Good post, Brint. You pretty much captured the guts of what occurred and how the team played.

 

[brewskis]

The rushing looks even worse when you consider Sac was down their 3 best DE’s

To date, Sac has allowed the following rushing yards per game

UNI 4.3
Cal Poly 3.2
UNC 3.0
EWU 3.6

Not a pretty picture for our offense.

As I said elsewhere, if Johnson plays the whole game, UM averages 5 or 6 per carry.

Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. But I would think a fully healthy Griz OL and RB room should do more against a far from healthy Sac defensive front.

Is the bar really set that low?

 

[mthoopsfan]

As I said elsewhere, if Johnson plays the whole game, UM averages 5 or 6 per carry.

Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. But I would think a fully healthy Griz OL and RB room should do more against a far from healthy Sac defensive front.

Is the bar really set that low?

I thought that SS tightened up against run, and further loaded the box, as the game went on. That impacted runs too.

 

[brewskis]

Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. But I would think a fully healthy Griz OL and RB room should do more against a far from healthy Sac defensive front.

Is the bar really set that low?

I thought that SS tightened up against run, and further loaded the box, as the game went on. That impacted runs too.

Then why weren’t we opening things up over the top in the passing game?

It doesn’t matter how this is sliced. This is ugly as hell.

 

[SoldierGriz]

3.7 yards per rush...is not gonna get it done. Compare that number to any other playoff team's numbers yesterday. Griz rely on explosive plays that are not happening. Limited in the run game and not a single receiver who can take the top off a defense. It might have worked with Akem and Toure...not going to happen with current crew.

Staff is stuck in the past for some reason.

Johnson averaged 12 yards per carry, in 3 runs. He was going to hurt SS badly. The UM average would have been 5 or 6 with Johnson. The o-line played fairly well. I too would like Akem or Toure. You have this irrational thing about the o-line, and have been giving the receivers a pass.

...would have been 5 or 6...Zero evidence to support that garbage.

I have consistently said the WR group is not as good as projected. They struggle to get open, miss the sticks too frequently, and have no deep-ball capabilities. Altogether - the offense is a problem...much bigger than you think.

 

[HelenaHandBasket]

Then why weren’t we opening things up over the top in the passing game?

Because KB is incapable of throwing anything close to a catchable ball more than 7 yards down field.

 

[SoldierGriz]

Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. But I would think a fully healthy Griz OL and RB room should do more against a far from healthy Sac defensive front.

Is the bar really set that low?

I thought that SS tightened up against run, and further loaded the box, as the game went on. That impacted runs too.

Not supposed to have an impact with the RPO...you told all of us that a while ago...

 

[hold-em]

I think as long as we get LJ back we will be a team in the playoffs that most won’t want to play.

Totally agree with that.

 

[rgrizfan]

Maybe we do, maybe we don’t. But I would think a fully healthy Griz OL and RB room should do more against a far from healthy Sac defensive front.

Is the bar really set that low?

I thought that SS tightened up against run, and further loaded the box, as the game went on. That impacted runs too.

Absolutely!